Big Brother 5: Why Drew Won

Three months after we first met the newest crop of houseguests, it’s finally over and we have our winner: Drew! He was part of at least two alliances that he helped break apart and a relationship that he helped break apart (at least in the house). But in the end, he got the majority of the jury’s vote! How did he pull it off? Why did Drew win?

We will answer that question just as we look at each evictee to determine why they lost (indeed, we just posted Why Michael Lost a little while ago). That means going back to What Big Brother 5 Houseguests Should Have Learned as a blueprint to see what Drew did right.

The first and most important rule is to scheme and plot. Drew did this quite well throughout the game, while somehow staying off most people’s radars. He was a part of the first alliance in this house, the Four Horsemen. That got him through the initial part of the game and also earned him Michael’s undying allegiance. As the rule says, “The key is to find some way to create alliances that will keep you around until you can figure out your full strategy later.” That is what Drew did – he joined the Horsemen but kept his options open. As he figured out the lay of the land in the house, things changed.

The first big change was when he won HOH and decided that their alliance was being harmed by having Holly around. So he nominated her and campaigned for her to leave – which she did. Some people considered that a terrible move because although Holly was not in the actual alliance, she was somebody who would vote with them. Others thought it was a good move because he split up a power couple.

Considering he won, it’s hard to criticize the move too much, and indeed power couples need to be broken up (a lesson that others in the house should have learned so they could have broken up Drew and Diane). If Drew had let Holly stick around, it is possible that the ensuing split between Jase and Scott might have torn apart the Horsemen within the house in much the same way it did outside the house. Jase would have had Holly, who knows where Michael would have gone, and Drew would have had to choose. By eliminating Holly, he did indeed get rid of a threat to him and his alliance. It ended up meaning the end of most of his alliance anyway, but he rode out the storm to safety.

After the Horsemen were decimated, Drew and Diane joined Adria and Natalie for a short-lived twin alliance. However, Diane was not happy with the arrangement (for reasons we’ve gone into in Why Diane Lost and elsewhere) and broke up that alliance. Drew helped by casting his vote to evict Adria, though it probably was the right move for him to make at that time.

Then, of course, Drew rode with fellow Horseman Michael to the finals, also promising the finals to in-house girlfriend Diane. He managed to keep both of them thinking they were the one right up until he won the final HOH and had to choose just which of the ones he would take to the jury.

One of Drew’s finest schemes was when he first put Diane up for nomination – and didn’t tell her ahead of time that she was a pawn. He let her think that he was really mad at her and she could be going. She was pissed and it showed – which was just what he wanted. Then, after the nominations, he told her the truth. He had not wanted her to try to act upset because people might see through it; he wanted her to really be upset. And it worked.

As you will see in my interview with Drew, he actually began plotting and scheming before he ever got into the game. He studied up, he read books about power and how to tell if people are lying. He planned everything out. He was ready to go.

Drew also did a good job of knowing when to shut up rather than plotting too much. Sometimes when people approached him, he just nodded or gave them an “uh huh.” Other people in the house often feel compelled to get into long conversations, which can be their downfall. Drew stayed out of it as much as he could.

He also kept a lot of his scheming secret. Diane was absolutely convinced that she was going to the Final 2 with him. Michael was absolutely convinced that he was going to the Final 2 with him. Only one of them was right.

Similarly, Drew didn’t backstab until he needed to. When Karen was being voted out, he didn’t warn her ahead of time. When Diane was going out, he didn’t warn her ahead of time. Both were key because in both cases the house would have been nightmarish if he had given them any sign. And both still voted for him to win in the end!

The one area here in which he went against the rules was in having an obvious relationship with Diane. Both of them knew it was a bad idea and frequently talked about not sharing a bed or making out in the open. But then they’d be right back doing the same thing again, drawn together like magnets.